home for the holidays

being abroad has been a life-changing experience but every time a holiday happens while i'm 6000+ miles away from home i get a little sad. this weekend, however, i found that home isn't as far as i'd once thought: just an hour train ride to florence.

when i signed up for latin summer school in bologna, i already knew that i had to make a trip back to florence to visit my host family and the stanford in florence program staff. i just didn't realize i'd be making the trip my first weekend in bologna :). after arriving in florence, i stopped by the stanford center for a visit, bought some wine for the family back home, then made my way over to my host family's house in the santa maria novella neighborhood.

in this picture, you can see some striped curtains. turns out there's a tiny, beautiful, covered terrace! my two and a half months in florence and i never knew! luciano (my host dad) and i had a paella and gelato dinner together and enjoyed the summer evening.

the next day, i went to the mercato san lorenzo to bring some florentine souvenirs back to the states then came home to watch the world cup. holiday weekends are always better with a little family.